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Eastern Illinois (30-18, 10-11 OVC) at Southeast Missouri (26-26, 14-7 OVC)
Cape Girardeau, Mo. | Capaha Field

Game One: Thursday, May 18 at 6:00 p.m. CT | Stats | Watch
Game Two: Friday, May 19 at 6:00 p.m. CT | Stats | Watch
Game Three: Saturday, May 20 at 2:00 p.m. CT | Stats | Watch

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois baseball will head to Cape Girardeau, Mo. for their final trip of the season to close out the regular season to take on the Redhawks from Southeast Missouri. EIU ends their season with 10 straight away games.

After starting off conference play slow, the Panthers find themselves almost at .500 with a 10-11 in conference play. Last season, Eastern Illinois finished fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 12-12 record.

Eastern currently sits in fifth place overall with a 10-11 record in the OVC. The Panthers have the second best winning percentage in the OVC conference with a .625 despite their losing record in the conference. Southeast Missouri sits in third place with a 14-7 conference record.

At the beginning of the season, Eastern Illinois was selected to finish third in the OVC standings. Southeast Missouri State was tabbed as the favorite to win by receiving 16 first place votes and are last year's defending champs. Morehead State finished in second with two first place votes.

ROAD WARRIORS: To start the 2023 campaign, Eastern Illinois baseball had played 20 straight away games. EIU currently is 23-14 on the road including a victory over No. 3 Arkansas earlier this season by a score of 12-3.

In the NCAA, the Panthers are tied for first in the country in road victories with 23. Last season, EIU ranked second in the nation with 24 road wins, only two behind the Huskies of Connecticut.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: Eastern Illinois is on a four game win streak after taking down OVC newcomer Lindenwood last weekend in a three-game series and continued their success against future OVC opponent Western Illinois on Tuesday.

During the season the Panthers have played five extra inning games this season including their 12 inning win over Illinois earlier this season. In those games they have a 4-1 record with their lone loss coming vs. Butler in 14 innings. With five extra inning games, it marks the most in a season since 2014.

As a team, EIU is currently hitting .290 for the season which ranks third in the conference. Eastern's .398 on-base percentage ranks first in the OVC (61st in the NCAA). The Panthers have the lowest amount of strikeouts as a team with just 317.

On the base pads, Eastern Illinois ranks 37th in the country in the stolen bases per game with an average of 1.79 per game. On the season, EIU has 86 stolen bases (44th in the NCAA). With 44 sacrifice bunts on the season, EIU cracks the top then in the NCAA (10th).

On the mound, the Eastern pitching staff has been solid with the second lowest ERA in the OVC at 5.25. They are allowing their opponents to hit just .276 on the season. The Panthers have allowed the third fewest extra base hits in the conference.

With a solid defense backing up EIU pitchers, the Panthers have only allowed 280 runs this season which is the lowest in the OVC. EIU has only given up 180 walks this season which is the second lowest in the conference (SEMO - 173). Their walks per nine innings (3.84) ranks 49th in the NCAA.

EIU's defense has been solid even with runners on base as they average 0.92 double plays per game (20th in the NCAA). Earlier this season, EIU had six double plays in their series vs. Little Rock. Eastern ranks third in the OVC in fielding percentage at .971. Their 457 assists in the field ranks second in the OVC.

Over the weekend, the Panthers posted their seventh shutout of the season after a 4-0 win over Lindenwood. It marks their most shutout wins in a season since 1985 and they currently rank third in the NCAA with seven.

Ryan Ignoffo has resumed his All-OVC caliber play as of late during his five game hitting streak. He has also reached base safely in 23 straight games. Ignoffo also had 20 multi-hit games in 2023 and 16 multiple RBI games.

During his 2023 senior campaign, Ignoffo is hitting a team high .344 with 66 hits. He leads the team in hits, home runs (14), runs scored (56), RBI (56), walks (30), and stolen bases (25) He ranks 36th in the NCAA in stolen bases and set a new EIU single season record in steals.

In the conference, he ranks 10th in batting average, third in runs scored, sixth in slugging percentage (.635), fourth in hits, eighth in on-base percentage (.443), second in RBI and second in stolen bases. He is a semi-finalist for the Jon Olerud Award given to the best two-way player in the country.

Nicholas Rucker is currently on the longest on-base streak of his career with 32 straight games. On the season, the first baseman is hitting .293 with 44 hits and 26 RBI. He is third on the team in total hits and third on the team in runs scored with 31.

Rucker has also made his presence felt in the field ranking 10th in the OVC in fielding percentage with a .994. He has 325 put-outs at first with 14 hits and only two errors.

Grant Lashure has been consistent behind the plate and in the batter's box hitting .323 this season and only having one error at the catcher position. He has 40 hits this season with 10 doubles and 25 RBI.

In the OVC, he ranks eighth in fielding percentage with a .996. He has thrown out nine runners in stealing situations. His 223 put-outs ranks second on the team.

Kolten Poorman has been solid at the hot corner this season for the Panthers in his first season with Eastern Illinois. He is hitting .307 on the season in 40 games played. He has a total of 39 hits including eight doubles and five home runs.

Lincoln Riley has a knack for hitting the ball and getting hit with the ball. He set a new EIU record in hit-by-pitch in a season with 22. He is also one of two Panthers to start all 48 games this season (Ignoffo).

Riley is also one of seven qualified players in the OVC to have a 1.000 fielding percentage. He has 122 put-outs in center field with four outfield assists. He is hitting .297 this year with a .432 on-base percentage. He has 54 hits including eight doubles and three home runs.

Thursday's starter will by Ky Matthews-Hampton who has had an efficient season for EIU during his senior campaign. He is 6-2 on the season with a 4.05 ERA in 73.1 innings pitched. He has allowed 40 runs and 33 earned runs with 43 strikeouts.

In the conference Hampton is fourth in ERA, third in innings pitched, first in wins, seventh in earned runs, and sixth in walks allowed (21).

Closer Zane Robbins posted another three strikeout appearance on Tuesday after throwing the final inning against Western Illinois.In his 20 appearances he has at least 12 games with two plus strikeouts.

Robbins has a 1.54 ERA allowing 16 hits and four earned runs. He has walked 17 batters compared to his 36 strikeouts in only 23.1 innings pitched.

CATEGORY LEADERS
Hits: Ryan Ignoffo (66), Lincoln Riley (54), Nicholas Rucker (44)
RBI: Ignoffo (52), Kolten Poorman (36), Riley (32)
Batting Average (min. 100 at-bats): Ignoffo (.344), Grant Lashure (.323), Poorman (.307)
Runs: Ignoffo (56), Riley (44), Rucker (31)
Strikeouts: Tyler Conklin (54), Ky Matthews-Hampton (43), Ignoffo (41)
ERA (min. 20 IP): Zane Robbins (1.54), Jackson Nichols (1.82), Nick Laxner (3.83)
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Panthers and Redhawks are currently tied in the all-time series with a 33-33 record. Last season, SEMO visited Coaches Stadium to close out the regular season. Eastern Illinois took two of three games and are currently on a two-game win streak.

The two OVC schools first met during the 2001 season in Charleston, Ill. Despite EIU taking the first win in conference play, the Redhawks won the series taking two of three games.

ON DECK: Eastern Illinois heads to the OVC Tournament hosted in Marion, Ill. at Mtn Dew Park starting on Wednesday, May 24. The Panthers will find out who they play during the opening round depending on the outcome of several conference matchups this weekend.

HEAD COACH: Jason Anderson begins his eighth season as the Eastern Illinois head baseball coach. Anderson got his first win as the Eastern Illinois head coach on March 5, 2016 against No. 12 Arkansas by a final score of 10-8 (10 innings). He would go on to finish with a 15-39 record in his first season. He would improve each season over the next three years after posting 21, 23 and 26 wins before posting an 8-6 record during the 2020 COVID-19 season.  Following that season, Anderson coached Trey Sweeney who was drafted 20th overall by the New York Yankees in 2021. Sweeney was the third highest drafted Panther of all-time. In 2022, Anderson would post his most wins in a season after going 33-20 and securing the number four seed in the OVC Tournament held n Lexington, Ky. It was the most wins by an EIU team since 2001. From that team, Anderson coached two first team All-OVC players (Ryan Ignoffo and Hayden Birdsong) and the OVC Freshman of the Year (Chris Worcester). He is a 2012 graduate of the University of Illinois after playing baseball there from 1998-2000. He was the Pitcher of the Year in the Big Ten during the 2000 season, and was drafted in the 10th round by the New York Yankees. After his eight year playing career in the MLB, he made coaching stops at Danville Community College and the University of Illinois before coming to Eastern Illinois. He is assisted by Derek Francis, Forrest Arnold, Mike Pugliese and Colton Hann.